VOA标准英语2013--Ethiopia Continues Dam Construction

（单词翻译）

Ethiopia Continues Dam Construction

The massive construction of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance¹ Dam continues despite sometimes angry protests from Egypt.

At issue is - diverting part of the Blue Nile since May.

The recently ousted² Egyptian government feared the diversion would impact the Nile River flow - on which it is heavily dependent.

All of this will be a reservoir with 74 billion cubic meters of Nile waters.  Ethiopia said it will gradually fill the reservoir in the coming years, leaving Egypt questioning how the reservoir can be filled without affecting the water flow, especially during periods of drought.

Simegnew Bekele, one of the dam’s project managers, said better water management by both Egypt and Ethiopia will be the key. “The water will flow through these culverts permanently³. That culverts will be part of the dam, which will be embedded⁴, which will have gates and during any low flow the water will pass through the culverts because it will be installed at the normal riverbed level. We cannot change the normal riverbed level,” he explained.

Ethiopia is proceeding⁵ with construction even as environmental experts and diplomats⁶ continue to work out Nile River resource management among affected⁷ countries.  

The Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will make Ethiopia Africa’s biggest power exporter in the next four years - producing 6000 megawatts of hydroelectric power. The dam will be 1708 meters long, 145 meters high and will be equipped with two powerhouses.  Potential buyers of the electricity include Somalia, Uganda and even possibly Egypt.

The dam will be competed in 2017 at a cost of close to $5 billion.